ArticlePloS one2013
Low intensity and frequency pulsed electromagnetic fields selectively impair breast cancer cell viability.
Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 48 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Effects of Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields (PEMFS) On Cerebral Haemodynamics - EPOCH Study
PEMF Therapy for the Management of Diabetes in Obese Patients (ProMise): A Randomized Controlled Trial
Who cites it
48 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Evaluation of Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Effects: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on Highlights of Two Decades of Research In Vitro Studies.BioMed research international · 2021Pooled it
- Beyond Tumor Treating Fields: Multimodal Antitumor Action and the Clinical Potential of Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields.Current medical science · 2026Review
- Triple-Frequency Electromagnetic Stimulation Combined with Fingolimod Reduces Breast Cancer Cell Proliferation and Metastasis-Associated Extracellular Vesicle Protein Levels.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Magnetic Reprogramming of Macrophages Stimulates Phagocytosis of Breast Cancer Cells via a TRPC1-STING Inflammatory Axis.Smart medicine · 2026Article
- Effects of Multifrequency Electromagnetic Pulses on tumor growth in immunocompetent mice.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- The Preclinical Effects and Mechanisms of Biofield Therapy on Pancreatic Cancer Cell Growth and Metastasis.Cancer medicine · 2026Article
- Pulsed electromagnetic field stimulation subtly modulates doxorubicin sensitivity in a spheroid co-culture model of osteosarcoma.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Static magnetic field and alternating magnetic field cytotoxic effects on triple negative breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231).Medical oncology (Northwood, London, England) · 2025Article
- Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy Alters the Genomic Profile of Bladder Cancer Cell Line HT-1197.Journal of personalized medicine · 2025Article
- Influence of Super-Low-Intensity Microwave Radiation on Mesenchymal Stem Cells.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Article
- Pulsed electromagnetic fields inhibit IL-37 to alleviate CD8Apoptosis : an international journal on programmed cell death · 2024Article
- Article
- Pulsating electromagnetic fields for perineal lacerations and surgical wounds healing in the postpartum: a pilot study.Archives of gynecology and obstetrics · 2024Article
- Review
- Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields (PEMFs) Trigger Cell Death and Senescence in Cancer Cells.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Harmonizing Magnetic Mitohormetic Regenerative Strategies: Developmental Implications of a Calcium-Mitochondrial Axis Invoked by Magnetic Field Exposure.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- P53 status, and G2/M cell cycle arrest, are determining factors in cell-death induction mediated by ELF-EMF in glioblastoma.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Synergistic cytotoxic effects of an extremely low-frequency electromagnetic field with doxorubicin on MCF-7 cell line.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Effects of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields on the tumor cell inhibition and the possible mechanism.Scientific reports · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionA common drawback of many anticancer therapies is non-specificity in action of killing. We investigated the potential of ultra-low intensity and frequency pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMFs) to kill breast cancer cells. Our criteria to accept this technology as a potentially valid therapeutic approach were: 1) cytotoxicity to breast cancer cells and; 2) that the designed fields proved innocuous to healthy cell classes that would be exposed to the PEMFs during clinical treatment.
methodsMCF7 breast cancer cells and their normal counterparts, MCF10 cells, were exposed to PEMFs and cytotoxic indices measured in order to design PEMF paradigms that best kill breast cancer cells. The PEMF parameters tested were: 1) frequencies ranging from 20 to 50 Hz; 2) intensities ranging from 2 mT to 5 mT and; 3) exposure durations ranging from 30 to 90 minutes per day for up to three days to determine the optimum parameters for selective cancer cell killing.
resultsWe observed a discrete window of vulnerability of MCF7 cells to PEMFs of 20 Hz frequency, 3 mT magnitude and exposure duration of 60 minutes per day. The cell damage accrued in response to PEMFs increased with time and gained significance after three days of consecutive daily exposure. By contrast, the PEMFs parameters determined to be most cytotoxic to breast cancer MCF-7 cells were not damaging to normal MCF-10 cells.
conclusionBased on our data it appears that PEMF-based anticancer strategies may represent a new therapeutic approach to treat breast cancer without affecting normal tissues in a manner that is non-invasive and can be potentially combined with existing anti-cancer treatments.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.